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Jeffrey Dean Morgan cast as WALKING DEAD’s Negan!

If you’re familiar with the Walking Dead comic book, there’s one name that fills your heart with dread more than any other — and makes the Governor look like a grumpy local functionary: Negan.

Genre veteran Jeffrey Dean Morgan, known for playing the Comedian in the Watchmen movie and John Winchester on SUPERNATURAL, has won the villainous role that has long been anticipated by fans of the show. Negan is expected to debut in the sixth-season finale and become the Big Bad for season seven.

In the comics, Negan is the leader of a gang called The Saviors who purport to offer protection from walkers, but they’re really more about extort food and supplies from other, less-violent groups. Negan rules with an iron fist — and baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire that he nicknamed “Lucille.”

There’s a ginormous !SPOILER WARNING! attached to this character, which I will hold until after the cut… If you make the jump, you have been warned!
In the comics, Negan kills Glenn! But he doesn’t just kill him… He beats Glenn to death with Lucille — in front of Maggie and Rick and the rest of the gang! It happened in issue #100, and was easily the most brutal and shocking death of the series to date.

This is why I — and many other fans — believe Glenn was not killed back in episode 3 (“Thank You”) of the TV series; his murder at the hands of Negan is far too epic for the show to pass on using. In fact, if the producers to decide to fake out the fans and loser Glenn early, I am thoroughly convinced that another core character will fill Glenn’s role as the bunny. (Are your affairs in order, Rick, Daryl and Carol?)

Morgan can currently be seen on THE GOOD WIFE, and next spring will play Thomas Wayne in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

One final note: It should be interesting to see how AMC handles the character’s trademark penchant for dropping the F-bomb whenever possible…